Is there an age deficit in the selection of mental sets?

Efficient selection of actions is dependent on higher-level constraints (mental sets) on lower-level selection. This paper explores the hypothesis that ageing leads to specific impairments associated with higher-level selection between mental sets. Indirect evidence for such a deficit comes from occasional findings of age differences in situations with high executive-control demands (e.g., Mayr & Kliegl, 1993) that are not easily explained in terms of other factors, such as general slowing or working memory parameters. More direct evidence comes from recent results with the so-called task-switching paradigm. Specifically, age-sensitive set-selection processes are indicated by age differences in “global selection costs” (i.e., the response-time difference between task-switching blocks and single-task blocks) which seem to be particularly large when demands in terms of “keeping competing mental sets apart” are high. Finally, data from a new variant of the task-switching paradigm (the “fade-out paradigm”) are reported which show that age differences in global costs persist substantially beyond a phase in which set-selection is actually necessary. Generally, evidence is consistent with the view that in older age, a costly set-selection mode of processing dominates over the more efficient within-set-selection mode of processing, possibly because of a problem with maintaining distinct representations of what ought to be done in the face of competing representations of what could be done in principle.     

Influences of visibility,intentions, and probability in a peripheral cuing task

According to the concept of direct parameter specification, nonconsciously registered information can be processed to the extent that it matches currently active intentions of a person. This prediction was tested and confirmed in the current study. Masked visual information provided by peripheral cues led to reaction time (RT) effects only if the information specified one of the required responses (Experiments 1 and 3). Information delivered by the same masked cues that did not match the intentions was not used. However, the same information influenced RT if it was provided by visible cues (Experiments 2 and 3). The results suggest that the processing of nonconsciously registered information is flexible because it is susceptible to the changing intentions of a person. Yet, these processes are apparently restricted, as nonconsciously registered information cannot be used as easily for purposes not corresponding to the currently active intentions as better visible information.     

Observing the transformation of experience into memory

The ability to remember one's past depends on neural processing set in motion at the moment each event is experienced. Memory formation can be observed by segregating neural responses according to whether or not each event is recalled or recognized on a subsequent memory test. Subsequent memory analyses have been performed with various neural measures, including brain potentials extracted from intracranial and extracranial electroencephalographic recordings, and hemodynamic responses from functional magnetic resonance imaging. Neural responses can predict which events, and which aspects of those events, will be subsequently remembered or forgotten, thereby elucidating the neurocognitive processes that establish durable episodic memories.     

The semantics of syntactic structures

Over the past 15 years, both linguists and psycholinguists have shown a growing interest in the idea that syntactic structures can carry meanings that are independent of the meanings of specific words. This article considers how this idea relates to traditional notions of compositionality in generative grammar, and examines two modern theories that, although based on different starting assumptions, both readily allow syntactic structures to bear independent meaning. We review work from psycholinguistics suggesting that observation alone is often insufficient to support the efficient learning of word meanings, and that some of the 'slack' left by observation can be picked up by the semantics of the syntactic structures in which words appear. We argue that this convergence between linguistic theory and psycholinguistic experimentation should be no surprise, because language must be learnable.     

Treatment Foster Care in a System of Care: Sequences and Correlates of Residential Placements

We examined Treatment Foster Care (TFC) in residential trajectories for youth with psychiatric disorders and aggressive behavior. We analyzed residential placements of a statewide sample of youth during the 12 months preceding and following admission to TFC. Prior to TFC, the majority of youth were residing in more restrictive settings (group homes or residential treatment). Two-thirds of youth remained in TFC throughout the follow-up year. Of those who left, nearly half returned home, and slightly fewer were discharged to group homes. By the end of the 12-month follow-up period, rates of group home use were similar to those seen in the pre-TFC period. Movement out of TFC during the year was associated with being older at placement and with increased problem behavior (particularly externalizing behaviors). TFC serves as a step-down placement for a substantial number of youth. However, this is not the only way it is used, and models based on short-term transitioning or reunification with families may not be widely implemented or relevant in practice. Additional research is needed to understand current functions of TFC in residential trajectories and to maximize its utility in systems of care.     

Musiktherapie in der deutschen Psychosomatik

The authors report about the clinical implementation of music therapy in psychosomatic hospitals in FRG based on a survey among practising music therapists: attending especially to the qualification of music therapists, their integration and the problem of indication. The coverage of music therapy in the standard textbooks on psychosomatic medicine is discussed.Finally the state of research on music therapy in psychosomatic hospitals is reviewed.